2024 Interior Design Trends

Looking to freshen up your home with something new and intriguing? Despite the recent “mob wife” design trend that features bolder, blingier attire and decor, the bigger overall trend this year is for subtler, classic, low-key luxury. Here’s a round-up of top 2024 interior design trends in furnishings, colors, materials, and decor from major designers and interior design magazines.

Soft, Natural Colors

Warm tones

Cool grey’s longstanding position as the leading home interior neutral color has officially ended. Warm tones are now on top. Among the most popular interior color palettes are combos featuring chocolate brown, caramel, and cream. Also on the rise are pale creamy yellows and warm golden wheat or topaz shades.

In the same family but slightly bolder are softened orange hues. These range from pale pastel peach and apricot to warm persimmon and rich terracotta.

For extra drama, combine cool and warm tones that sit across the color wheel from each other. Try soft coral or chocolate brown with sky blue, terracotta with deep oceanic blues, or plummy burgundy with soft camel.

Cool tones

In the realm of neutral tones, grey shades and pure black are out this year, with creamy beiges and rich browns taking their places.

After being surrounded by grey neutrals for so long, you may still prefer cooler shades. Happily, 2024 interior design trends include an array of soft and airy blue hues.

Several paint manufacturers have selected blues as their colors of the year. These range from icy baby blue to moodier blues with touches of indigo.

Soft blues look marvelous with browns of all shades. Feel free to try the warmer color trend using browns, soft yellows, softened oranges, and creams, while mixing in some ethereal blues. Gold or brass picture frames, hardware, and decor look great with blues; think of a golden sun in a bright blue sky. (Blue, yellow, and gold are also a classic color combo in Provençal homes.)

Greens continue to be popular, with soft sage green and avocado holding sway. Darker greens tend toward forest and olive families this year. Vibrant emerald and teal shades that were popular in upholstery in recent years are less common now, but not unfashionable.

What about dark colors?

The chocolate, terracotta, and olive tones that grew in popularity last year are still trending. The more intense gem tones of 2023—especially bold sapphire, emerald, and ruby tones—are mostly replaced with subtler, softer versions. Ink-black furniture and decor elements that were all over modern farmhouse homes have been largely replaced with brown and bronze tones.

Some warm dark greys are making big statements. Though pale and medium grey are out of favor, the grey-black tones of Behr’s color of the year—Cracked Pepper—appear in many magazines and designer show homes. The trick with today’s dark grey is to choose a rich tone, not a cold, high-tech grey. Cracked Pepper has a slightly green undertone, and looks great with gold, caramel, and other warm colors.

Moody and saturated colors aren’t generally among the top 2024 interior design trends. However, some that have warmth and softness are still in vogue. The goal is to keep the overall effect cozy. Avoid too much darkness or vividness. “Warm, but low-key” is the current vibe.

Of course, if you love intense gem-colored elements or glossy black goth style, go for them! Your home should always feel good to you, no matter what designers say. Just keep an open mind and recognize that changing your mind about color over time can be freeing, and lots of fun.

Are black, white & jewel tones in or out?

The modern farmhouse aesthetic of the past decade included little color. The newer trend toward warmer colors, shapes, and textures invites you to enjoy rich hues like forest green, cabernet, or warm dark grey, and highlight them with lighter, warmer neutrals. Stark black and white solids are generally out of favor. Some designers are still using bolder gem tones as accent colors. However, the overall trend is toward subtle shades, many echoing the colors of midcentury modernism.

The “Barbie pink” trend is over

Vibrant, saturated “Barbie pink” had a moment in 2023 when Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie was at its peak. However, intense pink’s popularity has fallen. But you can still find some designers brave enough to use berry tones (burgundy reds and reddish plums) when drama is called for. The paler blush, peachy cameo pink, petal, and slightly greyed pinks of last year are still trending.

Subtly Elegant Textiles

Luxe textures like performance velvet (which is soft, stain-resistant, and easy to clean), performance silk, and performance linen (which doesn’t wrinkle or stain like normal linen) quietly announce refined comfort. They don’t scream for attention. To elevate and soften bedding, upholstery, wall coverings, throws, and pillows, consider textural woven fabrics. Faux fur throws, bedspreads, and upholstery are less subtle, so they’re no longer in favor.

The ubiquitous cream-colored, bumpy bouclé fabric that was everywhere in 2022 and 2023 is on the way out. Cheaper white bouclé doesn’t wear well—the texture flattens and picks up dust and fibers. However, plusher, high-quality bouclé is still in style; look for it in colors other than cream and white. Furry, cream-colored, seventies-style flokati rugs—popular during the hygge craze we embraced during quarantine—have largely disappeared.

Upholstery is moving away from white and grey toward creams, caramels, and brown shades, as well as soft greens, and pale blues.

Teal continues to appear, but mostly in less saturated shades. When you consider teal, think about soft, sage-adjacent blue-green rather than vibrant peacock blue-green. Today’s teals are usually more reminiscent of midcentury modern sofas than of peacocks’ plumage. (But knock-’em-dead peacock blue still has its place!)

Curves Take Over from Angles

The boxy furnishings that are the hallmarks of modern farmhouse style are no longer the hot ticket. Hard-edged rectangular pieces have made way for softer, curvier furnishings. Whether upholstered, bent or carved from wood, or created from curved metal, today’s hottest furniture features round shapes to contrast with hard-edged pieces.

Leading 2024 interior design trends include furniture with curving backs, tops, and arms, and less-angular cushions are showing up in living rooms, dining rooms, offices, and bedrooms.

But you needn’t replace all your angular furniture! Just incorporate new curves into your home to give it a softer, less hard-edged, more relaxed feeling.

Rounded chairs, tables, rugs & headboards

Consider dining chairs or counter stools with curving backs or arched tops. A rounded side chair in your living room, a circular or oval coffee table or side table, or a rug with curves brings a feeling of movement and flow to a room. This fights the static or more formal quality that a squared-off room can have.

Large rectangular sofas and chaises are making way for sofas and side chairs with round backs. Tufted upholstery is making a tentative resurgence after years of flat-backed seating. I expect to see more camel-back sofas soon as well.

Shell-shaped upholstered headboards are another 2024 interior design trends that imparts a Deco-inspired elegance and softness. In living and dining rooms and bedrooms, curvier chairs are in. This parade of rounded shapes is creating a wave of softer, more sophisticated silhouettes.

Investment Furniture Built to Last

Instead of laying out rooms like stiff stage sets, designers and their clients now prefer quieter, more comfortable furniture. Wasteful, cheaply made, short-lived, and unsustainable fast furniture is out. Instead, design-savvy folk want investment pieces that will last long enough to be lovingly reupholstered in a decade or two. If that means buying more affordable used contemporary or vintage pieces, so be it! Sourcing furniture from auctions and furniture consigners is trending, too.

I find exceptional deals on furniture and decor at local online auctions. My go-to website is MaxSold, which lets me bid online. I drive to pick winnings up at a scheduled time, and come home with treasures worth several (sometimes many) times what I’ve paid for them. I’ve written an article about the benefits and drawbacks of local online auctions. Take a look at my tips and see if auctions are right for you.

Art Deco Influences

Those who want more dramatic furnishings should note the rise of Art Deco-inspired shapes in furniture and decor. During the heyday of Art Deco in the 1920s and 1930s, geometric, precise, elegant furnishings with curvaceous style were in vogue. These often featured dramatic contrasts of black, white, and gold.

Modern nods to Art Deco tend to include curvy shapes in both wood and upholstered furniture. However, they often trade dramatic black and white for muted pastels, like the colors popular in the 1930s and 1940s. 2024 interior design trends incorporating Deco influences tend toward soft pale blue, creamy yellow, sage green, peach, and blush pink. Some pastels are even appearing on kitchen cabinets and in bathroom fixtures.

Look at the delightfully busy living room above. It’s like an engraving come to life, full of horizontal and vertical lines. Note the creamy fluting on the wall at left and on the pale taupe credenza front. The verticals are echoed in the floor-to-ceiling black metal room divider.

The upholstered light taupe chair and pouf warm up the neutrals. Cool blue-green scalloped cabinetry brings modernist zing and whimsy to the space. The overall effect combines Art Deco, midcentury modernism, and current trends in a fresh and original way.

Sustainable Furnishings & Materials

Buying well-made secondhand pieces is definitely growing in popularity. So is reupholstering older pieces that have “good bones.” Though upholstering can be pricy, it’s usually less expensive than buying a high-quality piece new. It’s also sustainable. Buying vintage pieces keeps furniture out of landfills and avoids the waste of building and transporting new furniture.

Being willing to buy used pieces or reupholster, stain, or repaint pre-owned furniture lets folks of more modest means enjoy pieces of quality while supporting a sustainable lifestyle. Those with money to burn often turn to vintage furnishings as well. Vintage pieces in great condition are rare and special. They provide that one-of-a-kind flair that makes them conversation pieces.

People with furniture restoration skills often buy distressed or tired vintage pieces, then refinish them to give them new life. Some strip, stain, paint, or even paper vintage pieces. Purists may see painting furniture as a sin because it hides the beauty of the wood. I think taking a tired object and giving it new life instead of trashing it is fine if it provides functionality and beauty. Sure, I’d rather not cover up beautiful inlays, marquetry, and exquisite wood grain myself. But if the alternative is throwing furniture in the trash or letting it rot in a damp basement, I say revive it and enjoy it! Let someone else enjoy old things anew in a fresh way—or restore it yourself.

Woods with Beautiful Grains

Pale, bleached woods were popular during the rustic furniture and farmhouse-inspired modern farmhouse juggernaut of the 2010s. Some people even used oven cleaner to strip all the stain from their wood furniture, leaving parched, rough wood exposed. Today, dry, pale woods are being replaced by warmer, darker woods, lovingly oiled or topped with semi-matte finishes.

The disdain for “brown furniture” (especially for the dark reddish-brown stain popular in the 1980s and 1990s) is definitely waning. But the prejudice against yellow and orange-based wood stains continues. Many refinishers sand away the finish on “orange furniture” and apply, then wipe off thinned grey-beige paint. This lets some color seep into the grain, counteracting the orange. Done well, it provides a less dried-out version of the stripped furniture effect popular on Instagram in 2023. Done with too much chalky paint, it leaves pieces looking like the pickled oak cabinets of the 1990s.

You may prefer to let wood speak for itself, leaving it unvarnished if possible, but well oiled, so grain really pops.

Appliance Storage

Appliance garages—roll-down doors or sliding kitchen cabinets on countertops—are making a comeback. These leave kitchens looking less cluttered while still making appliances available. Swing-up platforms that hold heavy stand mixers, then swing down to hide them inside lower storage cabinets, are trending. As the population grows older, expect more kitchens with built-ins that make moving and storing heavy appliances easier and safer. Safe, accessible storage is a hallmark of disability-friendly home design. It also allows people to age in place comfortably.

Decorative Wood Trim

Fluted woodwork everywhere

Rustic decorative wood treatments were popular in modern farmhouse-style homes. Elements such as barn doors, shiplap, and reclaimed wood panels defined the style. Today, these give way to more detailed and more highly finished elements, such as fluted wood. These narrow vertical slats are showing up on walls, cabinetry—even on freestanding furniture pieces. Often they have a layer of clear varnish or stain; sometimes they’re painted.

While one of the more attractive and popular 2024 interior design trends, fluting’s recent boom in popularity points to the trend being short-lived. It’s popping up all over new construction. Fluting is taking the place that shiplap held five years ago, and that exposed ductwork and bricks did in the 1990s and early 2000s. Before long, its ubiquity will likely render it less desirable.

Grooved surfaces gather grime

Fluting, shiplap, interior shingles, and other wood wall treatments with exposed edges collect dust. In kitchen and bathroom environments, fluting and shiplap gather moisture and cooking oils. These attract dust and grime, which collects in the grooves. Grooved wall features need regular maintenance to look fresh. If you’re not willing to clean them regularly, fluting and other textured wall treatments may not be right for you.

Gold? Silver? Bronze?

Which metal tones are in?

Will gold or silver hardware be the top metal this year? It’s anyone’s guess! Elle Decor expects gold fittings to gain ground. In Vogue, however, designer Robin Standefer is betting on silver because “it is powerful, timeless, and versatile, and tows the line between traditional and modern.” Other design publications say the trend toward mixing metals continues. There’s no clear winner; each major option has prominent adherents. So you’re free to do whatever feels good to you without worrying that you’ll be seriously out of style anytime soon.

Consider undertones and reflections

Silver-toned metals are inherently cool. They have white or black highlights. They’re also closer to a mirror finish, so they more accurately reflect the colors around them. Brass, bronze, and other yellow metals are inherently warm; they go well with warm colors, woods, and golden tones. Anything reflected in them has a warm cast. Sometimes warm yellow tones clash with (or don’t complement) cooler colors. Consider that when you use warm-toned metals.

Traditionally, designers frowned on mixing metal tones in jewelry or home decor. More recently, they’ve provided guidelines for combining metals. The recent “rule” was that you could either mix finishes (matte, brushed, and polished) or tones (gold, chrome, nickel, bronze, black) within a room, but should avoid mixing both finishes and tones. I tend to follow that guideline when possible, since I like elements in a room to work together. And though gold hardware can be chic, I usually prefer silver tones. Why? Because I’ve seen brass go seriously out of style several times in my lifetime, but I’ve never seen silver tones go all the way out.

Statement Tiles in Bathrooms & Kitchens

White subway tile is out—unusual tiles with character are in. However, the trend of using intricate printed tiles with bold and black-and-white tile designs has peaked. Now we see more solid-color tiles, but with handmade-looking finishes or unusual shapes. Variations in shape, texture, and glaze make them feel fresh and interesting.

Many designers choose to stack long, narrow tile patterns (not offset or staggered tiles) horizontally or vertically. But hundreds of narrow strips of tile can look quite busy if used to surround a whole bath or shower. To avoid visual clutter, they’re sometimes used as vertical or horizontal accent stripes in a wall made of larger tiles.

Moroccan zellige tiles continue to be a major trend. They appear in many designer show homes, websites, on Instagram, and in design magazines. True zellige tiles are individually cut, shaped, and polished from clay, then glazed. Each tile has a unique surface and minor variation in color. Slight imperfections in the surfaces contribute to their unique charm. When grouped together, zellige tiles provide depth of color and a compelling combination of rusticity and elegance.

Using tiles with unusual shapes or surfaces can create a feeling of bespoke luxury. However, using tiles in unusual and trendy fashion colors, shapes, or textures is a big financial investment. It can make reselling a house tricky if buyers don’t like your dark and intricate olive green tilework, or your abalone-like iridescent penny-round tiles. If you expect to sell your home in the next five years or so, consider whether the large cost of buying and installing such bold tile is worth it to you should potential buyers find it not to their liking.

Kitchen & Dining Storage

Colorful kitchen cabinetry

Sage and olive green remain popular for kitchen cabinetry. I like using neutral colors for large swaths of cabinetry, since cabinets cost a lot to repaint, and today’s trendy green tones aren’t universally loved. I don’t want to spend thousands to repaint each time a color goes out of style. But you may find that colorful cabinets bring you joy and boost your energy. If so, why not delight in your kitchen and paint your cabinetry golden yellow, icy blue, or sage green? Color makes a big impact on emotions, and you deserve to feel happy in your home.

Many of this year’s soft colors are gentle and won’t look out of place too quickly. But you might think twice about using pink or peach shades on cabinetry. These colors read as feminine or whimsical, which turns a lot of people off. Using them on cabinetry in a major space like a kitchen or family room may make your home harder to sell. Bold or unusual colors are also easier to tire of. White kitchens are no longer the most fashionable kitchen cabinet choice after many years of being the preferred color, it’s true. But they’re neutral, common, and acceptable to many buyers. Expect to see plenty of white cabinets and grey walls and carpets in existing homes for years to come because they’ve been popular for so long.

Decorative millwork

For years, detailed millwork—sawmill-produced decorative house-building materials like doors, paneling, molding, mantels, and railing—has been relatively out of favor. Large, boxy rooms without crown molding, intricate window trim, or built-in fireplace mantels were common. But now we’re seeing detailed glass-front kitchen cabinets, built-in bookcases, fluting, and formal dining rooms with built-in cabinetry, window seats, and other details that call out for classic wood detailing. Spare, squared-off, open-plan living and unadorned rooms are less desired. We’re hungering for cozier, more detail-oriented spaces and furnishings.

Expect to see more cabinetry (both stained and painted) and furniture with ridges, curved or carved wood, and fluting in the next few years. We’ve been through a decade which celebrated a relative absence of color, pattern, and built-in decorative detail. Then COVID forced us into quarantines and separated us from coworkers and loved ones. Is it any wonder we want less spare practicality, and more coziness and prettiness?

Wood cabinetry options

Unpainted kitchen cabinetry is coming back in style after placing second to white kitchens for several years. However, once-coveted cherry cabinetry with its red undertones—big in the 2000s—is seen as dated, as are granite countertops with busy stone patterns. Neutral white oak—not the yellowy golden oak of the 1980s or the whitewashed pickled oak of the 1990s—is especially popular. Walnut-colored cabinets are also in vogue right now.

Walnut tends to have a tighter grain than oak. Both are classic and traditional woods used commonly for furniture. Oak has a reputation for solid sturdiness in wooden furnishings (think of Mission furniture, English refectory tables, and oak plank floors, for example). Walnut, on the other hand, was traditionally considered a more elevated wood for cabinetry and furniture because of its finer grain. Though classified as a hardwood, walnut is softer than oak. Details carved into walnut are often more subtle. You’ll find it in traditional French china cabinets, armoires, and desks. The cabinetry world’s 2024 interior design trends include neutral-toned versions of these and other woods—not too pale, nor too golden, too orange, or too brown.

Separate Dining Spaces

The built-in butlers’ pantries and china cabinets popular in upscale homes 20 years ago are back. This is because open-concept layouts became less popular during the COVID quarantine years. Too much time spent stuck inside with the same people in wide-open homes left us hungering for more quiet private spaces. Ten years ago, most home buyers said they preferred open-plan living. But now, real estate professionals say about half of home buyers don’t want to live in an open-plan house.

The growing popularity of creating dining spaces away from cooking and living room areas means more storage pantries and cabinets outside of kitchens. In the home cabinetry sector, 2024 interior design trends include built-in cabinetry in dining rooms or in corridors between kitchens and dining rooms. This includes drawers, cabinets, and closets just for dishware, flatware, glasses, and holiday serve ware, as well as for appliances, cleaning supplies, or food storage.

Food & drink stations

Mini bars and drink stations complete with wine fridges, beer taps, or espresso machines are trending.

Snack and beverage bars are appearing tucked into cabinets or purpose-built alcoves all over the home. Designers are including them in bedrooms, family rooms, home offices, walk-in closets, garages, backyard patios and decks—even bathrooms. A desire for convenience, comfort, and luxury are behind the trend. Mini fridges, refrigerated drawers, even nugget ice makers are popping up far from the main kitchen area in larger homes.

Creating in-home hospitality areas that remind us of upscale hotel suites is on the rise throughout the luxury home design industry.

Elegant Bedroom Decor

Millions of us had to share our home spaces with others 24/7 while in COVID quarantine. Now we want private getaway spaces so we can relax without distractions. Lots of us had to turn our bedrooms into combination sleeping and work quarters. Today, we want our bedrooms to feel more private and welcoming.

Canopy beds are one trend that invites a feeling of luxury and coziness. Canopy beds with airy sheers around them feel dreamy and ethereal. Dark, angular canopy beds (like the one in the photo at the top of this article) provide a more modern, minimalist feel that can range from Japanese to industrial chic.

If you crave the warmth and privacy, dress your canopy in draft-fighting, sunlight-blocking fabric panels. But note that 2024 interior design trends for canopy bedding tend toward either tailored fabrics or simple airy sheers. Old fashioned ruffles and flounces were popular in girls’ bedrooms in the 1960s. Today’s versions are more subtle and sophisticated.

If you have limited space, a daybed can provide you with a comfy relaxation spot by day, and turn into guest bedding by night.

Luxury closets

Those with money and space to burn are expanding dressing and clothing storage spaces. Some turn spaces adjoining primary bedrooms into room-sized closets. This is the ultimate storage luxury. These closets are big enough for built-in cabinetry, sofas, dressing or make-up tables, or chairs to use while dressing. Some even feature small coffee stations. Here you can enjoy your first espresso of the day as you engage in your private morning rituals.

Grown-Up Bunk Beds

People with vacation homes or frequent guests are adding built-in, adult-sized bunk beds. These allow two, four, or even more visitors of any age to sleep in one room without having to share a bed. Swanky bunk beds may have full- or queen-sized beds on the bottom (big enough for two parents) and a twin or even another full on top. They can be wired so that each has its own lighting, outlets, and charging station.

Why not add a curtain around each bunk and an overhead light for each sleeper? Then every space feels private and keeps out unwanted morning light. (Stick-on battery-operated lights are an inexpensive option if you don’t want to wire them.) You can add upholstery or cork to the walls in bunk rooms to dampen sound. This makes it easier for multiple people to sleep near each other.

Repurposed Spaces

Many of us no longer work at home, and are eager to repurpose former office spaces. Lots of us turned guest rooms into workplaces, and are eager to turn them back into guest quarters. Others are going for workout rooms, game rooms, room-sized closets, sewing or craft rooms, dining rooms, or nurseries. Creating specialized spaces instead of multipurpose areas is a reaction to the open-plan homes and home offices we’ve spent so much of the past five years in.

At top:

Canopy beds don’t have to look girly or old fashioned. This sleek modern bed in a warm neutral room feels grand and sophisticated. The angles of the bed are echoed in the wood treatment on the ceiling, the paneled half-wall behind the bed, the fluted credenza, the large framed paintings, and the lines in the blinds and the rug. The soft coordinating colors and lack of pattern keep it all from becoming too busy | Instagram: @m.atelier.sg (M Atelier, a Singapore design studio)